Military Resistance:

thomasfbarton@earthlink.net

6.11.11

Print it out: color best. Pass it on.

Military Resistance 9F6

Syrian Soldiers In Revolt:

We Wont Kill The Sons Of Our Country
Four Young Conscripts From Idlib Defected From The Army And Joined The Protest Movement, According To One Of Them
A High-Ranking Military Officer Sent A Taped Message To A TV Station To Say He Is Defecting

[Saturday]
JUNE 11, 2011 By NOUR MALAS in Dubai, AYLA ALBAYRAK in Guvecci, Turkey, and MARC CHAMPION in Istanbul Wall St. Journal [Excerpts] Eight members of the Baath Party, Syrias ruling party, resigned in Idlib on Friday, according to a list of names circulated by activists, while a high-ranking military officer sent a taped message to a TV station to say he is defecting. Four young conscripts from Idlib defected from the army and joined the protest movement, according to one of them. Taha Alloush, a 21-year-old soldier who provided his military identification number, said he fled to the northwestern border with Turkey from Damascus, with three other conscripts, before dawn Friday to avoid security checkpoints and snipers. Were defecting because of the massacres we saw in front of our eyes in Al Rastan and Tal Kalakh, Mr. Alloush said. The two towns, north of Homs, Syrias third-largest city, were hit last month by the army and security forces. They would load corpses into containers and throw them into the sea, Mr. Alloush said by telephone. We wont kill the sons of our country.

MORE:

Defected Soldier And Another Activist Said As Many As 2,000 Soldiers Across Syria Had Defected
I And 10 Others Refused To Fire, He Said By Telephone. We Threw Our Rifles On The Ground And Ran
Clashes Reported Between Army DivisionsIn Deraa, As Well As In Al-

Rastan, North Of HomsAnd Reports Of Low-Ranking Soldiers Defecting

Were Using Our Homes To Hide Defected Troops [Thursday]
JUNE 9, 2011 By NOUR MALAS, Wall St. Journal [Excerpts] A largely abandoned town in Syrias northwest has become the latest focal point in the countrys uprising, as young activists brace to battle the army in what would mark a new phase of confrontation in protests against President Bashar al-Assad. The majority of residents of Jisr al-Shoghour, a town of about 70,000 people in northwestern Syria, have fled since Monday, activists and residents say. The few thousand who remain include young activists who say they are hiding defected Syrian soldiers who are preparing to fight the army. Several people in the town and nearby areas reported a massing of troops Wednesday. In Saraqeb, about 25 miles east of Jisr al-Shoghour, troops opened fire late Wednesday on people who had attempted to form a human chain in the path of 22 buses and 16 trucks headed in the direction of the town, a resident said by telephone. This person said seven people were killed in the attack. Since Syrias uprising began in March, its government and its protesters have told conflicting narratives. These strands have clashed this week in Jisr al-Shoghour. Syrias government said Monday that armed and trained terrorist groups ambushed police and security forces earlier in the day and eventually killed 120 government troops. But several residents said fighting in the town had come Sundayand that fatal battles had taken place mainly between members of the states own security forces. A 21-year-old man, who identified himself as a defected soldier from Damascus, said dozens of security-force members had defected and provided him with a weapon that he was now ready to take up against the regime. The man said he fled to Jisr al-Shoghour two days earlier after refusing to open fire on protesters in the Qaboun district of Syrias capital. I and 10 others refused to fire, he said by telephone. We threw our rifles on the ground and ran. The man said he made it to the town with the help of a network of activists and other defected soldiers.

He said he was in contact with the 10 other soldiers with the hopes of helping them reach the town, too. We want to gather in Jisr al-Shoghour and wait for the army to arrive, he said. We want to resistus and the other soldiers here. Though he said he arrived without weapons, he said the defected security-force members gave him an automatic rifle. They just have Kalashnikovsbut we have to make do with what we have, he said. The defected soldier and another activist said as many as 2,000 soldiers across Syria had defected. People are calling and saying: I have a brother in the army, I have a cousin who wants to leave, can we send them to you? the activist said. Clashes have also been reported between army divisionsin Deraa, as well as in al-Rastan, north of Homsand of low-ranking soldiers defecting. On Tuesday, the Syrian Revolution 2011 Facebook page posted a copy of what is described as a letter from a class of conscripts urging other soldiers to side with protesters. Jamil Saeb, an activist who remains in Jisr al-Shoghour, said he helped organize an evacuation campaign Monday night after the government said it would send the military in. Were using our homes to hide defected troops, Mr. Saeb said.

MORE:

Syrian Army First Lt. Abdul Razaq Tlass Appeared On The Al-Jazeera And Urged Other Officers To Protect The People And Side With Protesters, Rather Than Protecting The Regime

Security Officers And Some Military Have Defected In Jisr AlShoghour

Infighting Between Security Forces And Defections By Young Army Officers
Similar Low-Level Defections And Clashes Have Been Reported In Other Cities Including Deraa And Banias
[Tuesday]
JUNE 7, 2011 By NOUR MALAS, Wall St. Journal [Excerpts] Syria said 120 police and security-force members were killed Monday by armed groups in a northwestern town, vowing to take swift action against an ambush that would stand as the deadliest strike against government troops in the countrys antiregime uprising. The government announcement was quickly challenged, however, by activists, town residents and others, whose contrasting accounts suggested that the events in Jisr alShoghour may be part of a broader struggle playing out within Syrias armed forces. Residents said the town was quiet Monday, after a violent weekend some said included infighting between security forces and defections by young army officers. Early Tuesday, a man identifying himself as Syrian Army First Lt. Abdul Razaq Tlass appeared on the Al-Jazeera satellite channel and denied that the regime was fighting armed groups. In what appeared to mark the first army defection announced on TV, he urged other officers to protect the people and side with protesters, rather than protecting the regime. Remember your duties, said Mr. Tlass, who comes from a large military family. The familywhich also includes Syrias former defense minister and a stalwart of the Assad regime, Mustafa Tlasscomes from Al Rastan, a town north of Homs that has been hit hard by army and security forces. One of the main sites of recent tensions is Jisr al-Shoghour, where protesters say 70 people have been killed by security forces in since Saturday.

But one resident reported that several fights Sunday were between members of government security forces. Jamil Saeb, who described himself as a political activist, described a gun battle broke out inside a military intelligence building after some intelligence forces were killed by sniper fire. Describing a separate incident, he said he spoke to three army conscripts who had refused to fire on protesters and took refuge in their homes instead. The Local Coordinating Committees also said security officers and some military have defected in Jisr al-Shoghour. Similar low-level defections and clashes have been reported in other cities including Deraa and Banias. But two residents reached by telephone said the town was quiet Monday, with thousands of families having fled north or near the border with Turkey after a bloody weekend. There are between 1,000 and 2,000 young men patrolling the streets and guarding homes so the government doesnt say there are armed gangs terrorizing the town, said Mr. Saeb. Across Syria, activists have reported rising incidents of protesters lashing out at security forces over recent weeks, as they face unrelenting violence from Mr. Assads forces.

MORE:

I And Other Soldiers Secretly Agreed To Refuse To Shoot At Our People

He Was Ordered To Shoot, Refused To Do So
We Immediately Ran In The Direction Of The Demonstration And Held Our Rifles Up In The Air

So That Protesters Would Know That We Werent Going To Shoot At Them

We Are Not Going To Shoot You; We Are With You
As He Continued Marching With The Protesters, He Saw Other Soldiers Leaving The Ranks And Joining In Support Of The Demonstration
[Last Week]
June 4, 2011 By Amnesty International researcher Cilina Nasser in Wadi Khaled, northern Lebanon via Uruknet He is a 21-year-old soldier and illiterate. But this young man does not need to read and write to know that shooting at unarmed protesters by government forces is wrong. He was ordered to shoot, refused to do so, and in late April joined protesters calling for the fall of the Syrian regime in Damascus. With the help of protesters he then returned to Tell Kalakh, his hometown near Syrias border with Lebanon, and then became one of some 4,000 Syrians from that area who were forced to flee from their homes in mid-May and to seek refuge in northern Lebanon. He spoke to me on condition that I do not reveal his name because of his fear about possible reprisals against his relatives who are still in Syria. The soldier was formerly based at a military compound in the city of Homs. In late April, his battalion was moved to Damascus to help quell the mass protests then taking place in support of demands for reform. He and around 600 soldiers in his battalion were each given a Kalashnikov rifle with seven 30-round magazines, a pistol and a tear gas mask to be used if and when the riot police fired tear gas at the protesters. They were taken to al-Madhamiya in Damascus on a Thursday afternoon in preparation for a demonstration next day after people had gathered for Friday prayers.

The soldiers were told that the riot police would deal with the demonstration. That night, however, the soldiers commander called them together and told them he had received an order that they should shoot protesters. He talked about the protesters as if they were after us, that they would attack us and take our weapons and that they were armed. He also said that if people did not protest on Friday, then we should just leave them alone I and other soldiers secretly agreed to refuse to shoot at our people. I asked the soldier what instructions his commander had given and whether, for example, he had instructed his men to fire warning shots into the air. He said no. He and the other members of his unit were told simply that they had an order to shoot. The next day, while people were attending Friday prayers the soldiers, in groups of 10 to 15 led by their sergeants, took up positions at the corners of streets near and around mosque exits. When people came out of the mosque, the soldier said, they started chanting: The people want the fall of the regime but also called out silmiye, silmiye, an Arabic word meaning peaceful to stress the non-violent nature of their demonstration. The soldier said he was standing at a street corner with nine other members of his unit and they watched the protesters who began a peaceful march along the street. He told me that none of the demonstrators were carrying weapons as far as he could see, yet he and the other soldiers were ordered to open fire on them. The officer gave us the order to shoot when the protesters were around 15 or 20 meters away from us but we in all, five of us soldiers immediately said we would not shoot and said to the other soldiers present: How can you shoot at these people? We will not do that. At this point, the soldier told me, the officer in charge of his unit ordered: Shoot at them, pointing to those who refused to fire at the protesters, leading to a stand off between the two groups of soldiers.. They cocked their rifles and so did we but neither of us pulled the trigger. We then started pushing each other and scuffled a bit Then the officer fell on the ground. We immediately ran in the direction of the demonstration and held our rifles up in the air so that protesters would know that we werent going to shoot at them. When we were close enough so that they could hear us, we shouted to them saying We are not going to shoot you. We are with you. Minutes later, however, the shooting began as other government security forces opened fire on the demonstrators.

The soldier said he witnessed several people fall as they were shot, who then were carried away from the scene by other protesters. As he continued marching with the protesters, he saw other soldiers leaving the ranks and joining in support of the demonstration, despite the risks that they could face for disobeying orders and deserting the ranks.

MORE:

Soldiers Are Being Killed For Refusing To Shoot Civilians, Or For Refusing To Shoot Those Running Across The Lebanese Border As Refugees
If They Ordered Him To Shoot, Qassem Says, He Would Shoot At His Commanders
When The Authorities Came For Qassem But Could Not Find Him, They Took His Father To Prison Instead
June 8, By Esther Adorno, Harpers Magazine [Excerpts] This report from Homs, site of clashes between protesters and the Syrian military since May 6, was written under a pseudonym in order to ensure the safety of the author. ******************************************************************************** More than 10,000 people have been arrested in Homs, Syrias third-largest city, in the past two months. Ive been staying near the souk, and every night I hear the sound of tanks patrolling the streets, machine-gun fire, and soldiers shouting orders. Everything else is quiet: as the Mukhabarat takes another Syrian from his bed, the only response is the silence of hundreds of closed windows. Occasionally teargas fills the night air.

In the morning, Homs turns back into a rather boring and conservative industrial city. Where buses loaded with policemen were parked the night before, a single traffic cop stands stretching his arms in the air. It would be hard to believe ones own nighttime memories were it not for the thirty tanks parked just outside town and the dozens of militiamen leaning on their worn-out Kalashnikovs. Qassem ended up in Homs after his brother was arrested at a protest rally in Damascus, one hundred miles to the south. His brother has since been released, but only after being abused. The usual tortures, Qassem says, shrugging. Beating, electroshock, that truck wheel you hang from while they whip you, the German Chair this last one is a chair youre tied to, with two metal sticks pushing so hard against your shoulders that your nerves running through the arms sometimes get permanently damaged. Your legs are then tied towards your back; the pain is unbearable for more than ten minutes. Qassems brother was lucky, Qassem explains, because he was left without visible scars apparently Syrian authorities wont release prisoners if they bear signs of mistreatment. As for Qassem, they dont want him for the German Chair; they want to recruit him. They take you for two weeks, place you in squads of ten men each, and use you as irregular, non-uniformed snipers. They give you a weapon and tell you to shoot. If you dont shoot, they shoot you they return you to your family wrapped in a white bedsheet, calling you a martyr and saying it was the terrorists who killed you. If they ordered him to shoot, Qassem says, he would shoot at his commanders. So he hides, even if there are spies from Assads regime everywhere. He sleeps in a different place each night with no plan, no job, no idea when he can return to his university studies. When the authorities came for Qassem but could not find him, they took his father to prison instead. Assad is marshaling support among the Christians, but the Alawite are at the heart of the regimes response to the protests. Their tightly knit community produced the top generals working in the Mukhabarat. An Alawite opposing the regime is likely to be accused of treason by the rest of his family, and may pay a heavy price for his stance: an average Syrian political activist might be sentenced to five years in prison, but an Alawite activist is likely to serve fifteen years for the same crime. State television broadcasts images of alleged violence against Alawite citizens by protesters, or of Salafists setting fire to Alawite-owned shops along the coast.

According to antigovernment activists, the fires were really set by groups of young men known as the Shabbiha, on Assads orders. I ask Qassem who the Shabbiha (shadow) are. Shabbiha is how we used to call the gangs making money during the Syrian occupation in Lebanon, Qassem says, lighting a cigarette. They used to travel in ghost cars without plates; thats how they got the name Shabbiha. They would smuggle cars from Lebanon to Syria. The police turned a blind eye, and in return Shabbiha would act as a shadow militia in case of need. . . . Now that soldiers are being killed for refusing to shoot civilians, or for refusing to shoot those running across the Lebanese border as refugees, Shabbiha is definitely more reliable than the army. But as more people are stuffed in jail, and more protests are organized by relatives who want these prisoners released and returned home, more men are needed to suppress the oppositionand thats why recruiters here come knocking at the door of young men like Qassem. He wont even tell me what sect he belongs to. Before we part ways, Qassem drops two empty bullet casings on the table. Kalashnikov, he says. I picked them in the main street of Homs on Friday, the floor was covered with those after the protest. Kalashnikovs are rough, cheap guns. Its the illegal groups, the Shabbiha and the snipers enrolled daily, who use them. Look at the red one in your left hand, look at the numbers on it, you see? Thats not even Syrian-made, thats made in U.S.S.R., and Soviet Union was decades ago. Citizens shooting other citizens with second-hand bullets. Thats how cheap us people are, for this regime, grins Qassem as he takes the casings and walks away.

DO YOU HAVE A FRIEND OR RELATIVE IN THE MILITARY?

Forward Military Resistance along, or send us the address if you wish and well send it regularly. Whether in Afghanistan, Iraq or stuck on a base in the USA, this is extra important for your service friend, too often cut off from access to encouraging news of growing resistance to the wars, inside the armed services and at home. Send email requests to address up top or write to: The Military Resistance, Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657. Phone: 888.711.2550

IRAQ WAR REPORTS

U.S. Soldier Killed By IED In An Najaf

6.10.11 The Associated Press BAGHDAD The U.S. military says an American soldier has been killed during operations in southern Iraq. Pfc. Matthew J. England, 22, of Gainesville, Mo., died June 8, in An Najaf province, Iraq, when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Hood, Texas.

NH Soldier Among 5 Killed In Iraq Rocket Attack

6.8.11 Sunbeam Television Corp SALEM, N.H. -- A New Hampshire native was one of five U.S. soldiers killed in a recent rocket attack in Iraq. The Union Leader reports that Private-First-Class Michael B. Cook of Salem was in eastern Baghdad serving as an adviser to the Iraqi national police when the rocket struck. Cook leaves behind a wife and two children.

Resistance Action:
June 8 (Reuters) & June 9 (Reuters) TUZ KHURMATO - A roadside bomb wounded a policeman in Tuz Khurmato, 170 km (105 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. BAGHDAD - Insurgents using silenced weapons killed a judge in the Jamiaa district of western Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said. TAJI - Insurgents, also using silenced weapons, killed Jalal Jassim Mohammed, the head of a company belonging to the Ministry of Industry in the town of Taji, 20 km (12 miles) north of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said. BAGHDAD - Insurgents killed an off-duty policeman driving his car in Utaifiya district of west central Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

MOSUL - Insurgents shot dead an off-duty policeman near his house in eastern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. BAQUBA - Ali Hussein, general manager of Diyala province health department, escaped unharmed when a bomb attached to a parked car exploded near his passing convoy in Baquba. BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol wounded two policemen, in central Baghdads Karrada district, an interior ministry source said. RASHAD - A roadside bomb killed a member of the government-backed Sahwa militia when it exploded near a Sahwa-run checkpoint in the town of Rashad, near Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb exploded as a police patrol passed, wounding four people, including one policeman, in Zaafaraniya district in southeast Baghdad, a ministry of interior source said.

IF YOU DONT LIKE THE RESISTANCE END THE OCCUPATION POLITICIANS CANT BE COUNTED ON TO HALT THE BLOODSHED THE TROOPS HAVE THE POWER TO STOP THE WARS

AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS

Foreign Occupation Servicemember Killed Somewhere Or Other In Afghanistan: Nationality Not Announced
June 9, 2011 Reuters

A foreign servicemember died following an improvised explosive device attack in southern Afghanistan today.

Groton Flags Half-Staff After Marine Killed

Marine Cpl. William Woitowicz (AP Photo/U.S. Marine Corps) June 9, 2011 By Associated Press GROTON - Flags in Groton, Mass. have been lowered to half-staff after a GrotonDunstable Regional graduate was killed in action in Afghanistan. The Department of Defense said that Marine Cpl. William Woitowicz died this week after suffering multiple traumatic injuries from small-arms fire in the Badghis Province. Former teacher Michael Donnelly says Woitowicz was a standout in his high-school engineering class who could have easily gone to college to follow in the footsteps of his older brother, who works as a construction engineer. The 23-year-old was assigned to 2nd Marine Special Operations Battalion, Marine Special Operations Regiment, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command at Camp Lejeune. Woitowicz leaves behind his parents as well as an older brother and a younger sister, who both graduated from Groton-Dunstable.

Family Of Phoenix Soldier Killed In Afghanistan Talks

May 31 by Catherine Holland and Ryan ODonnell, KTVK

PHOENIX Another Phoenix soldier has died while serving his country. The Department of Defense says Pfc. John C. Johnson was killed in the Kandahar Province of Afghanistan Friday. Johnson, who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom, died of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire. The Phoenix soldier was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 32ND Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10Th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y. Johnson had been in the Army for less than two years. He joined in February 2010. Five months later he was assigned to Fort Drum after completing training at Fort Jackson, S.C., and Fort Benning, Ga. He deployed with his unit in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in March 2011. Johnson went to elementary school in the Valley and high school in Wickenburg. Family and friends created a small memorial in the front yard of his moms home in Phoenix. Johnson was Vicki Dryers only son. She calls him a hero for protecting our freedoms. But her son is not her only hero. God bless all the ones that are still there and all the families that are waiting for their loved ones to come home and God be with them, she said. That boy, he wasnt a boy anymore, he was a man, said Johnsons father, John Johnson Sr. Hes my hero. According to the Fort Drum website, Johnsons awards and decorations include the Army, the National Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon, the NATO Medal and the Combat Infantryman Badge. Johnson, 28, leaves behind a wife, who is seven months pregnant

Bomber Attacks Memorial Service For Occupation Collaborator Killed By Bomber

June 10, 2011 The Associated Press & AFP KABUL, Afghanistan A bomber blew himself up Friday outside a mosque where a remembrance ceremony was being held for a slain Afghan police commander. The blast killed four police officers, authorities said.

Security forces confronted the bomber, who was dressed in traditional robes, before he entered the mosque in the northern city of Kunduz, said provincial police chief Samiullah Qatra, who attended the ceremony. A scuffle broke out and the bomber detonated his explosives, the force of the blast blowing out windows of the mosque, Qatra said. At least 14 policemen have been wounded in the attack. Video shot by AP Television News showed what appeared to be the bombers head and legs indicating he detonated his explosives outside the mosque near a mud wall. Green plastic chairs sat overturned, and blood pooled on the ground. Fridays ceremony was in honor of Gen. Daud Daud, a well known regional police commander in northern Afghanistan who was killed May 28 in a bombing at the governors office in northeastern Takhar province where top police and NATO officials were meeting. German Gen. Markus Kneip, NATOs commander for northern Afghanistan, was among those wounded in the attack.

UNREMITTING HELL ON EARTH; ALL HOME NOW

A United States Marine onboard a medevac helicopter from the US Armys Task Force Lift Dust Off, who was wounded in an IED strike near Sangin, Helmand Province, Afghanistan, June 4, 2011. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

Wednesdays Toast: Seven More Gone

Burning oil tankers attacked by militants at the Pakistani border town of Torkham along the Afghanistan border June 8, 2011. At least seven oil tankers, supplying fuel to foreign troops in Afghanistan, were destroyed in a bomb blast. (AP Photo/Qazi Rauf)

Thursdays Toast: Rack Up One More

An oil tanker blown up by a bomb in the outskirts of Landikotal, northwest Pakistan June 9, 2011. The oil tanker, which was carrying fuel for foreign troops in Afghanistan, was destroyed Thursday in the bomb blast, government official said. No casualties were reported. REUTERS/Shahid Shinwari

MILITARY NEWS
THIS IS HOW OBAMA BRINGS THEM HOME: ALL HOME NOW, ALIVE

The remains of Staff Sgt. Kristofferson B. Lorenzo, Pfc. William S. Blevins and Pvt. Thomas C. Allers at Dover Air Force Base, Del., May 25, 2011. Lorenzo, of Chula Vista, Calif., Blevins, of Sardinia, Ohio, and Allers, of Plainwell, Mich., were killed by the same improvised explosive device in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt)

Capitalists At Work:

Delta Airlines Corporate Vampires Fuck Over Soldiers Coming Home From War:
They Are Forced To Pay Nearly $2800 In Baggage Fees For Their Gear, Money That Had To Come Straight Out Of Their Pockets
[Thanks to Mark Shapiro, Military Resistance Organization, who sent this in.] June 8, 2011 By Jonathon M. Seidl, The Blaze LLC & Jun 7th 2011 by Grant Martin, Gadling.com [Excerpts]

A team of returning soldiers from Afghanistan was hit with an unpleasant surprise upon their arrival into the United States yesterday morning. The squadron, bringing a full load of gear with them back from the Central Asia was sacked with the baggage fees in place at Delta Air Lines, which, despite the agreement that they have with the armed forces charged the soldiers extra baggage fees. In sum, the group spent nearly $2800 in baggage fees for their gear, money that had to come straight out of their pockets. Delta Airlines is dealing with a potential PR nightmare right now after some Army soldiers returning from serving in Afghanistan posted a viral video complaining about being charged $2,800 in baggage fees. The video features two soldiers explaining that the fees were assessed while flying from Baltimore to Atlanta yesterday. According to the soldiers, their military travel orders authorize them to carry four bags for free. However, Delta claims its policy only allows soldiers to travel with three bags free of charge. Because of the policy, and despite the discrepancy, the soldiers had to pay $200 per extra bag, meaning the unit as a whole had to pay over $2,800. Not happy, not happy at all, one soldier says in the video before mocking Deltas business model: In a blog post on its website, Delta apologized, explained its policy, but did not say whether the soldiers would be reimbursed. They may want to decide fast. The video has only been up one day and already has over 130,000 views.

Los Angeles V.A. Sued For Defying Land Donors Will:

Refusing To Provide Any Housing For Homeless Veterans;
Leases Land To Corporations For Their Profits Instead:

If This Campus Can House Rent-A-Cars, It Can House Homeless Vets

[Here it is again. Same old story. Used up, thrown away, and the politicians couldnt care less. To repeat for the 3,559th time, the enemy is not in Iraq or Afghanistan. Their citizens and U.S. troops have a common enemy. That common enemy owns and operates the Imperial government in Washington DC for their own profit. That common enemy started these wars of conquest on a platform of lies, because they couldnt tell the truth: U.S. Imperial wars are about making money for them, and nothing else. Payback is overdue. T] ********************************************************************************************** The lead plaintiff in the case, Greg Valentini, served with the 101st Airborne Division on the assault on Tora Bora in Afghanistan in 2001 and the invasion of Iraq in 2003. He has since slept on streets and in a tent near an airport and eaten out of garbage cans. June 8 By Steve Vogel, Washington Post [Excerpts] The alleged failure of the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide stable housing to veterans suffering from severe cases of post-traumatic stress disorder or other mental disorders leaves many of them facing homelessness, according to a class-action lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in California. The lawsuit asks a federal judge to order the VA to use empty buildings on its sprawling West Los Angeles Medical Center campus to provide permanent supportive housing for a class of veterans who suffer from conditions that the plaintiffs argue require a stable home environment for successful treatment. According to the ACLU lawsuit, between 44,000 and 66,000 veterans are believed to be chronically homeless, meaning they have been without shelter for more than a year or on multiple occasions in recent years. Veterans are about 50 percent more likely to become homeless compared with all Americans, according to a 2009 report on homelessness by the VA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Citing research in the field, the suit argues that the only way veterans suffering from severe cases of PTSD, brain trauma and other disorders can be effectively treated is when they live in permanent housing that allows access to appropriate services and support. Homelessness itself exposes veterans to further trauma that itself can both cause and aggravate PTSD and other disorders, the complaint states.

In a 2009 report to Congress, the VA acknowledged that for the large percentage of veterans with disabilities, permanent supportive housing would be effective in helping them achieve long-term stability. About 8 percent of the nations homeless veterans live in the greater Los Angeles area, according to the suit. The 387-acre West Los Angeles Medical Center campus, five miles from the Pacific Ocean, includes many buildings that are vacant, closed or underused. The land was given to the federal government in 1888 for the purpose of establishing and permanently maintaining a soldiers home for disabled war veterans. But after the Vietnam War, long-term housing facilities on the campus were closed, and nearly a third of the campus has been leased to private companies, according to the suit. If this campus can house rent-a-cars, it can house homeless vets, Rosenbaum said. Among the plaintiffs in the suit is Carolina Winston Barrie, a descendant of Arcadia B. de Baker, who was one of the land donors. The VA provides no permanent housing to disabled veterans in Los Angeles with the exception of geriatric nursing beds, according to the suit. The lead plaintiff in the case, Greg Valentini, served with the 101st Airborne Division on the assault on Tora Bora in Afghanistan in 2001 and the invasion of Iraq in 2003. After his discharge, he began experiencing symptoms later diagnosed as severe PTSD, including graphic nightmares, an inability to concentrate and suicidal thoughts. He was briefly housed in a short-term treatment program. He has since slept on streets and in a tent near an airport and eaten out of garbage cans. He has now been sporadically homeless for several years and requires a safe, secure, and stable residence in order to meaningfully access necessary treatment for his mental disabilities, the suit states. The suit cites studies concluding that veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan are at higher risk of homelessness induced by mental illnesses than those from earlier conflicts. Reasons include the length and number of deployments on which service members are sent, as well as the nature of the conflict, with exposure to roadside bombs and other explosions that could cause traumatic brain injury.

FORWARD OBSERVATIONS

At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. Oh had I the ability, and could reach the nations ear, I would, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppose. Frederick Douglass, 1852

The Social-Democrats ideal should not be the trade union secretary, but the tribune of the people who is able to react to every manifestation of tyranny and oppression no matter where it appears no matter what stratum or class of the people it affects; who is able to generalize all these manifestations and produce a single picture of police violence and capitalist exploitation; who is able to take advantage of every event, however small, in order to set forth before all his socialist convictions and his democratic demands, in order to clarify for all and everyone the world-historic significance of the struggle for the emancipation of the proletariat. -- V. I. Lenin; What Is To Be Done

Never Again

Demonstration in Portland, Oregon, during the Israeli siege of Gaza 2008. Photograph by Mike Hastie From: Mike Hastie To: Military Resistance Newsletter Sent: June 05, 2011 Subject: Never Again Never Again If Anne Frank knew what was happening to the Palestinian people, she would lay her starving emaciated body

down for justice. Never Again.... Mike Hastie U.S. Army Medic Vietnam 1970-71 June 5, 2011 Photo and caption from the I-R-A-Q (I Remember Another Quagmire) portfolio of Mike Hastie, US Army Medic, Vietnam 1970-71. (For more of his outstanding work, contact at: (hastiemike@earthlink.net) T) One day while I was in a bunker in Vietnam, a sniper round went over my head. The person who fired that weapon was not a terrorist, a rebel, an extremist, or a so-called insurgent. The Vietnamese individual who tried to kill me was a citizen of Vietnam, who did not want me in his country. This truth escapes millions. Mike Hastie U.S. Army Medic Vietnam 1970-71 December 13, 2004

DANGER: POLITICIANS AT WORK

The Obama Regime Domestic Enemies Go After More Americans Fighting For Our Liberties:
Subpoena Served On David House -One Of The Founders Of The Bradley Manning Support Network Who Helped Publicize The Oppressive Conditions Of Mannings Detention
The Attempt To Criminalize WikiLeaks Is Clearly A Leading Prong In The Obama Administrations Truly Odious And Dangerous War On Whistleblowers
Jun 9, 2011 By Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com [Excerpts] Last month, I reported that the FBI had served a Cambridge resident with a subpoena compelling his testimony in the active Grand Jury investigation into WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, and that the subpoena revealed a very broad scope to the criminal investigation. A similar subpoena has now been served on David House -- one of the founders of the Bradley Manning Support Network who helped publicize the oppressive conditions of Mannings detention and who then had his laptop seized by the government without a warrant -- compelling his testimony before the Grand Jury next Wednesday. This latest subpoena reveals how active the criminal investigation is and how committed the Obama administration is to criminally pursuing the whistleblowing site. Also receiving subpoenas in addition to House and the Cambridge resident have been ex-Manning boyfriend Tyler Watkins, and a cryptography expert at Princeton, Nadia Heninger (whose Princeton photo is credited to Jacob Appelbaum, the persistently harassed American once identified as a WikiLeaks spokesman). But it also highlights a very important potential controversy: the refusal of numerous witnesses to cooperate in any way with this pernicious investigation.

One witness who has appeared before the Grand Jury has already refused to answer any questions beyond the most basic biographical ones (name and address), invoking the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination to do so, and other witnesses are highly likely to follow suit. One option for federal prosecutors when facing a witness who refuses to answer questions on this basis is to offer them immunity, meaning that nothing they say when testifying can be used to prosecute them (they can still be prosecuted, just not with the aid of anything they say while testifying). Such an offer then precludes further invocations of the self-incrimination privilege as a grounds for refusing to answer questions, as it means there is no longer any danger that the witness could incriminate themselves by testifying. In the event the government makes such an offer, the court would almost certainly compel the witness to answer questions. But at least some of those witnesses -- ones who have already been subpoenaed or are likely to be -- intend to refuse to answer questions anyway, risking an almost-certain finding of contempt of court, which typically carries jail terms as a means of forcing testimony. One witness or potential witness who is considering that form of civil disobedience told me they view the attempt to criminalize WikiLeaks as such a profound assault on basic freedoms, including press freedoms -- one motivated by a desire to conceal government wrongdoing and illegality -- that they would rather be imprisoned than cooperate in any way with those efforts. That is the mindset of true principled heroism, and if it actually comes to that, anyone committed to transparency and preservation of press freedoms should do everything possible to support such persons in any way they can (a similar conflict is possible with the Obama DOJs subpoena served on New York Times reporter James Risen to force him to testify against his alleged source, a subpoena Risen has vowed to fight). The attempt to criminalize WikiLeaks is clearly a leading prong in the Obama administrations truly odious and dangerous war on whistleblowers.

Troops Invited:
Comments, arguments, articles, and letters from service men and women, and veterans, are especially welcome. Write to Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657 or send email to contact@militaryproject.org: Name, I.D., withheld unless you request publication. Same address to unsubscribe. Military Resistance Available In PDF Format
If you prefer PDF to Word format, email contact@militaryproject.org

CLASS WAR REPORTS

NEED SOME TRUTH? CHECK OUT TRAVELING SOLDIER

Traveling Soldier is the publication of the Military Resistance Organization. Telling the truth - about the occupations or the criminals running the government in Washington - is the first reason for Traveling Soldier. But we want to do more than tell the truth; we want to report on the resistance to Imperial wars inside the armed forces. Our goal is for Traveling Soldier to become the thread that ties working-class people inside the armed services together. We want this newsletter to be a weapon to help you organize resistance within the armed forces. If you like what you've read, we hope that you'll join with us in building a network of active duty organizers. http://www.traveling-soldier.org/ And join with Iraq Veterans Against the War to end the occupations and bring all troops home now! (www.ivaw.org/)

Military Resistance Looks Even Better Printed Out

Military Resistance/GI Special are archived at website http://www.militaryproject.org . The following have chosen to post issues; there may be others: http://williambowles.info/wordpress/category/military-resistance/ ; news@uruknet.info; http://www.traprockpeace.org/gi_special/; http://www.albasrah.net/pages/mod.php?header=res1&mod=gis&rep=gis
Military Resistance distributes and posts to our website copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in an effort to advance understanding of the invasion and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law since it is being distributed without charge or profit for educational purposes to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for educational purposes, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107. Military Resistance has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor is Military Resistance endorsed or sponsored by the originators. This attributed work is provided a non-profit basis to facilitate understanding, research, education, and the advancement of human rights and social justice. Go to: www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml for more information. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

If printed out, a copy of this newsletter is your personal property and cannot legally be confiscated from you. Possession of unauthorized material may not be prohibited. DoD Directive 1325.6 Section 3.5.1.2.